


Gods & Mortals

by IShouldBeWriting



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen, Introspection, There is no God
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-16 01:19:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3469073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IShouldBeWriting/pseuds/IShouldBeWriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain America might not have noticed, but for the Black Widow, the lie had not passed without consideration.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gods & Mortals

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toucanpie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toucanpie/gifts).



_”Rogers, Steven. Born, 1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984.”_

Natasha (or whatever her name was today) gave a small hiss. In terms of reactions she would willingly allow her compatriots to see, it was better than her first impulse; a sharp intake of breath. 

Rogers let the information pass without remark. 

If she’d believed there was a god, she would have thanked him. But that was the thing; Natasha no longer believed in the divine. Mutants, superheroes, avengers, gods. It didn’t matter what they called themselves any more: they were all frauds, every last one of them. SHIELD, SWORD, the Red Room, HYDRA. They were nothing more than different shades on a spectrum of morality which she’d finally learned to see as entirely subjective.

Most people in the world were mere mortals, gullible and willing to be led by the passionate and powerful. Most of the people she knew or had known had never been or could no longer be considered to be mortal. If she was being honest - and while she might lie constantly to the rest of the world, she was at least always honest with herself - she could no longer claim to be entirely mortal herself. Since that was so, why should she believe in a divine presence, some wrathful and all powerful entity who judged and smote? Why should she believe that morality would make any difference at all?

It didn’t matter whose side she was on anymore. She’d met those who had once been called the gods of men. They were no more or less infallible than herself. They could be fought, bargained with, deceived, beaten.

But if that was so, why had she felt so conflicted when Rogers failed to notice the lie about her date of birth? Why had she wanted to hold her breath? Why did she want so badly to destroy every remaining shred of Zola’s consciousness to prevent him from revealing the truth? Why did it matter whether her comrades knew the truth or not when both gods and mortals lied?


End file.
